As it was really nice weather at the weekend so I decided to clean the alloys, I assembled all the usual stuff; Alloy wheels cleaner, tar remover, brushes, rags etc. . . . After about two hours work the wheels were a looking a lot better but still with a lot of tar and engrained brake dusk especially on the inner part of the wheels. I was starting to get a few comments from the girlfriend about me getting obsessive about my wheels and I had about had enough by then anyway so I decided to call it a day. Yesterday a friend of mine suggested using something I had never heard of; “Bar Keepers Friend” not that easy to find but I found some in Waitrose. Tried it on just one wheel last night; brilliant stuff!, gets off all the stains and its only £3 for a bottle, certainly won't be buying alloy wheel cleaner again.

Same here, comes on and says 50 miles left, had it as low as 4 miles and it does not seem to flash . . . although I see JohnS who asked the original question has a MK1 Focus, I assume it would be 50 miles left just the same but not sure about that.

Unfortunately found today the helicopter tape had come away and the constant rubbing on the rubber bits has already taken some of the paint off again, and it’s only a couple of weeks since I painted it and put the tape on . . . be interested to see a photo of this area on another car that has the original Ford tape/patch on if anybody can post one please . . .

Totally with you on that, they drive me nuts too! . . . my other post about fixing the window / door rattle – I spoke too soon, it’s still there after all I am reluctant at the moment to take it to a Ford dealer until I can actually pinpoint where it’s coming from, otherwise I think I going to get a big bill for them to spend ages searching for it.

Rattle update! - I say this very cautiously but I think I may have found the source of the dreaded window / door rattle, I now think it’s not the door or window but the floor seatbelt mounting between the driver’s seat and the door. Last night I jammed some small pieces of foam into the mounting as a temporary fix and to test my theory, so far on the journey to work no rattle, but time will tell . . . the girlfriend thinks I’m becoming totally rattle obsessed, she may well be right!

No, it makes no difference, also I'm now not even sure its coming from the drivers door, the more I listen the more it seems to be coming from the offside rear passenger door or offside rear passenger door window . . . its really difficult to tell, I've even sat in the back to listen with my girlfriend driving and I still can't tell

Interesting you say that . . . I also thought that might be the cause but I have wedged it, taped and adjusted it and the rattle does not change, you still might well be right but at the moment I'm thinking its the window or the door.

As much as I am happy with my Focus the one thing that bugs me is the amount of rattles, knocks and creaks that come from the interior trim (not mechanical noises) so I am on a mission to find and fix as many of these as possible. I thought it might be useful to have thread to post found fixes, so I shall start off . . . Underside of rear seats (hatchback) Attached to underside the cushion of the rear seats are two foam rubber pads, the purpose of these is to stop the metal of the underside of the seat cushion hitting the metal of the floor. Mine had broken and come away from the cushion, on the other side the pad was totally missing, the solution was to buy a roll of 8mm foam rubber with self adhesive backing off eBay and make some new pads, I even added extra pads for good measure – one rattle / knocking fixed. Photo shows new pads fitted. Rear parcel shelf (hatchback) Although the parcel shelf has two little rubber pads attached to the sides mine was still rattling and knocking particularly on poor surfaced roads. I then noticed at the back of the shelf (near rear window) the plastic ledge where the shelf sits was worn slightly on both sides where the self repeatedly hits and rubs. The solution again 8mm foam rubber with self adhesive backing and to make two little pads to cushion the shelf. Another rattle / knocking fixed. Photo shows one pad fitted (nearside). Driver’s door window rattle I have also posted this in another thread, have still yet to find a fix for this

I was in this same position about a year ago . . . I had a 1.6 Zetec Mk1 and wanted a bit more power so in the end decided to change to a Mk2 1.8 Zetec rather than another 1.6. I have to agree with the comment that it’s not a city car and is not the most economical car, but I think its horses for courses, I travel less than 4 miles to work and do about only 8,000 miles a year so it was not a big issue for me. After I decided on a 1.8 it took me over 3 months to find a good condition low mileage one, I lost count of the number of used car salesman who told me there was hardly any difference in a 1.6 and a 1.8, just may have had something to do with the fact they had lots of 1.6’s on the forecourt and no 1.8’s of course I have 2008 1.8 Zetec and its certainly more lively than the 1.6 and I have been very pleased with it and have had no problems with the car, my only slight niggle (and this is not engine related) are a few rattles and creaks from the interior trim, but I am presently on a mission to try and sort these :) Update: sorry guys - just realised I did not explain whether I was talking about petrol or diesel - I was talking about petrol, which is what my 1.8 is.